Clothes-drying rack.



E. H. BARTON.

CLOTHES DRYING RACK. l APPLICATION FILED DEC.2. I9I5.

Patented June 19, 1917.

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INVENTOR ffomey Tan sTATEs PATENT onirica.

EDWARD H. BARTON, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AlVIlVION D. BARR, 0F SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

CLOTHES-DRYING RACK.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1917.

Application filed December 2, 1915. Serial No. 64,772.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD H. BARTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Drying Rack, of which the following is` a specification.

.This invention relates to improvements in racks for drying clothes, and the object is to provide a device of this character which is intended more particularly for indoor use, the same being provided with a plurality of extended clothes supporting arms pivotally attached at one end to a common bracket or support and capable of'individual swinging movement thereon to facilitate the application of damp or wet clothes thereto or to be swung into a depending vertical position around the periphery of the bracket when it is desired to place the said arms in an out-of-the-way position when not in use.

At the same time the entire set of supporting arms is susceptible of being elevated together with their load of clothes to be dried, in order to subject the same to the superheated air to be found in the upper portion of the drying room.

Another object is to secure these advantages in a structure that is of such a simple nature as to permit ofits manufacture at a very small cost, and to provide means for elevating and supporting the clothes in the desired position that is not liable to become easily deranged or broken.

A full and complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from a careful consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification; it being understood that while the drawing shows a practical form of the invention, the latter is not confined to strict conformity therewith, but may be changed or modified, as long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention, as specifically pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawing, in which like reference characters designate corresponding parts in each of the several figures:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved clothes rack, several of the' clothes supporting arms being omitted;

Fig. 9. is a planview, on an enlarged scale, of the adjustable arm supporting bracket showing the manner of slidably mounting the` same upon the main stationary supporting post;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same and illustrating the position of the clothes supporting arms when not in use;

Fig. 4 is a centralvertical section of Fig. 3 and illustrating the means for maintaining the arms in their active position.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

A main stationary post or bar 1 is adapted to be held with screws 2 or other suitable fastening means to the wall of a room or drying chamber, when the device is adapted for indoor use, for the purpose of supporting certain clothes carrying means in a lowered or elevated position. The said supporting post or bar may, if desired for outdoor use, ybe provided with a suitable foot or base member for the purpose of maintaining the same in vertical position, in which event the fastening means 2 may be dispensed with.

The bar 1 is provided on its rear face with longitudinal grooves or rabbets 3 adapted to act as holding and guiding means for an approximately semi-circular clothes-armsupporting bracket 4, which is provided on its rear straight edge with inwardly directed lugs 5 adapted to enter and loosely lit the' grooves or rabbets 3, and permit of the ready raising or lowering o-f the bracket upon the support 1 by meansto be hereinafter described, and at the same time, as will be seen, said lugs prevent the lateral disengagement of the bracket from the support. These lugs 5 are somewhat widened vertically in order to. give greater bearing surface within the grooves or rabbets' 3 lin order to prevent binding. i

The bracket 4 is provided in its rear edge with a rectangular opening 6 arranged midway of the lugs 5, and on the center of the semi-circular bracket, for the reception of an elevating bar 7, the said bracket being provided with upwardly and downwardly extending lugs or attaching plates S and 9 respectively formed in alinementwith the lil opening 6,- and adapted to bea-r against the outer or front face of the elevating bar 7. These lugs are provided with notches 10 and 1 1 for the reception of screws 12 which are driven into the elevating bar and removably secure the bracket to the bar 7.

Two screws 12 are preferably used in fastening the upper lug or attaching plate 8 to the bar, while one screw is suflicientl for the lower lug 9 and it will be seen that by merely loosening the latter a few turns, the bracket may be manipulated to release the saine from its engagement with the bar 7 when the saine is desired, and also to facilitate the ready assembling of the parts in the upbuilding of the device.

The lower attaching lug 9 is preferably provided with the strengthening web 9 connecting the same with the under side of the top plate of the semi-circular bracket 4.

In order to maintain the elevating bar 7 in longitudinal alinement on the face of the post 1, and to prevent the lugs 5 from binding in the grooves or i'abbets 3 during the up and down movement of the same, a keeper or guide loop 13r is provided on the post 1 intermediate its length and through which the lower end of the elevating bar is adapted to pass, thus preventing the lateral displacement of the latter with relation to the post. This keeper or guide has its sides extending through slits 14- formed in the post 1 and are held therein by a pin 15 passed through p'er'forations, (see Fig. 5).

The bar 7 is grooved or mortised near its lower end, as indicated at 16 to receive a laterally extending locking member 17, which is formed of spring wire and is secured at its upper end at 18 and provided at its lower end with a manipulating thumb piece 19 arranged adjacentl an operating knob or handle 20 provided on the lower ex` tremity of the elevating bar 7 The locking member 17 is further provided, intermediate its length, with an outwardly projecting bend or offset which has its upper portion inclined in order to facilitate its ready passage through the keeper 13 upon the upward movement of the elevating bar 7, and said outwardly projecting bend has its lower portion at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the bar 7, thus forming a shoulder to abut against the upper edge of the adjacent side wall of the keeper or guide 13 and thus prevent the downward movement ofthe elevating bar and bracket 4l, unless the shoulder 2Q, is pressed within the mortise 16 out of the path of the side of the keeper by the hand of the operator.

The supporting bracket l is provided around its outer or curved edge with a peripheral depending ange 23. A plurality of radial slots 24 are formed in the semicircular plate and extend outwardly from adjacent the elevating bar 7, to the peripheral flange 23 and downwardly a short distance into the same. Entrance openings 26 are formed through the plate adjacent the said slots and intermediate the length theres of and are connected to the said slots by short channels or necks. These entrance openings are slightly greater in diameter than the width of the slots 24 and the connecting channels, and are adapted to readily receive the heads of screws or pins 27 carried by clothes supporting arms 28.

These arms 2S, which are equal in number to the slots 24, are adapted to be engaged with the bracket 4L by simply introducing the head of the pin Q7 in the entrance opening 26, and by sliding the shank of the pin 27 along the connecting channelv and into the radial slot 24 until the same reaches the inner end, when the arm 28 will rest upon the outer edge of the bracket, and the head of the pin bearing on the under side edges of the slot with an'upward tendency will maintain the arm in an approximately horizontal position to support the weight of clothes placed thereon, and at the same time the y said arm may be swung toy either side to facilitate the placing of clothes upon the adjacent arms.

To' remo-ve the arms from the bracket when desired, the reverse operation is pursued. When the device is not in operation and the arms may be considered as occupying too much space in the room, while in their extended position, it is only necessary to pull them to the outer extremities of the slots when the supporting arms 28 will fall from a horizontal position to a vertical position with the shanks of the pins 27 occupying the vertical portions o f the slots and the heads of the pins will still prevent the disengagement of the arms from the bracket 4.

The supporting member 1 may be of a length to reach from the floor to near the ceiling of the room in which the device is used, and the' elevating bar 7 should be of suilicient length to carry the clothes suplll() Joi'tinO' arms 28 from a oint within eas n y reach of the operator, to a point near the ceiling of the room.

When the device is lowered the lowermost screw 12 will rest upon the top edge of the keeper 13 when the clothes to be dried may be placed upon the arms 28 without the necessityof the operator having to reach, and then by grasping the knob 20 the device may be elevated and automatically locked in such position when the clothes are located in the warmest and dryest part of the room and are out of the way of being meddled with and soiled. v c Y From the foregoing it will be seen that a ldevice of simple construction, easy manipulation and 'cheap to manufacture has been devised, and the same is capable of being shipped in a-knock-down condition, the onea series of radial slots which extend outwardly in a horizontal direction and then downwardly into said flange forming a vertical extension, said bracket being also provided with entrance openings Which communicate by necks of smaller diameter than the openings with said slots at an intermediate point thereof, and clothes drying arms provided at their inner ends with depending rigid headed pins, the diameter of the heads oli' the pins being less than the diameter of the entrance openings, but greater than the diameter of the necks and the slots, whereby said arms may be detached from the bracket by sliding the pins from the slots through the necks and into the openings, said arms being maintained in either a horizontal position when in engagement with the horizontal portion of the slots, or in a vertical position when extended out into the vertical portion of the slots, said arms also having a pivotal movement in the slots.

2. In combination with a post provided with longitudinal rabbets, an elevating bar movable along the face of the post and of less width than the same, a lguide loop for the passage of the bar provided on the post near the lower end, a bracket mounted on said bar and provided with an opening for the reception of the latter, means provided at said opening for detachably connecting the bracket to the bar, rearwardly and inwardly extending lugs provided on the rear face or' the bracket to engage in the rabbets of the post, said lugs serving to connect the bracket and bar to the post at the upper end of the latter, clothes supporting arms, and means for detachably connecting the clothes supporting arms to the bracket, whereby the arms may be detached from the bracket, the bracket detached from the elevating bar, and the latter detached from the post, leaving only the post in position upon a wall or other support.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDVARD II. BARTON.

Witnesses:

W. A. HALL, EVERETT M. CRosBEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained foi` five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

